- Employee suffered serious, life-changing injuries following incident at Siemens Gamesa site
- HSE investigation found serious failures in systems of work
Siemens Gamesa has been fined following an incident in which an employee suffered serious, life-changing injuries at a site in Hull.
On 18 July 2024, a 37-year-old woman was carrying out work as part of the construction of a wind turbine blade when a structure they were working on collapsed on top of them, leaving them paralysed from the waist down.
The task being undertaken at the time of the incident involved building the web section of the blade, a large internal structure running almost the full length of the blade to provide rigidity and prevent buckling in strong winds, functioning much like a spine.
The incident occurred at the pre-cast section of the web, which sits at the root end of the blade where it connects to the rotor. This section weighs approximately 800kg before additional materials are added during the build process.
As the injured employee and a colleague were preparing the pre-cast section to be wrapped in materials, it fell towards them after support poles, which had been holding the structure in place, were removed.
An HSE investigation found that the company failed to adequately assess the risks arising from the work; failed to devise and implement a robust safe system of work to prevent employees from removing the support poles; and failed to adequately train employees in safe working methods. As a result, employees adopted unsafe practices to complete the task.
Following the incident, the company implemented a system whereby support poles are locked in place and can only be unlocked by a nominated person holding the key, once the relevant stage of the build has been completed.
Employers are required by law to protect your employees, and others, from harm. Assessing risk is just one part of the overall process used to control risks in your workplace. Extensive guidance on managing risks and risk assessment at work is available on the HSE website.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay £7980.80 in costs at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court on 22 May 2026.
HSE Inspector Mark Slater said: “All work activities that carry a risk to health and safety must be properly risk assessed, and safe systems of work must be devised and implemented. Where protective measures are provided to prevent catastrophic incidents in high-risk areas, secondary measures such as lock-off procedures should also be in place.
“In this case, inadequate risk assessment and inadequate systems of work left employees to adopt their own working methods, exposing them to an unacceptable level of risk. This was a wholly avoidable incident.”
The prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Nathan Cook and paralegal officer Henrietta Ruthven.
Further Information
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
- More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
- Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
- Relevant guidance can be found here: managing risks and risk assessment at work: Overview – HSE
- HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so. The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in Scotland can be found here.
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